FLOAT
The unique 1849 Liberty Head double eagle pattern, obverse and reverse — this is the actual coin the constituent tracks, held in the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection
National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution

1849 Liberty Head Double Eagle

Maker
U.S. Mint (Philadelphia)
Year
1849
Rank
56 of 100

1849 Liberty Head Double Eagle

1849 Liberty Head Double Eagle by U.S. Mint (Philadelphia) (1849) is ranked 56 in the FLOAT 100 for Coins. It carried a price-guide value of $25,000,000 on 6 August 2026, which is not a sale. The unique first U.S. double eagle and arguably the single most valuable American coin — but it is not for sale.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

The unique first U.S. double eagle and arguably the single most valuable American coin — but it is not for sale.

$20 gold pattern, Liberty Head, unique — held in the Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$25,000,000
Kind
Price-guide value, not a sale
Date
6 August 2026

PCGS CoinFacts (PCGS #71908, 1849 $20 Proof, Liberty Head Type 1 No Motto) carries a PCGS Price Guide figure of $25,000,000 at PR64 — the only grade row on the chart, PR64 being PCGS's estimated grade for the unique Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection specimen (Condition Census 1, pedigree Smithsonian, survival estimate 1 known). A published guide valuation, not a sale: the coin is institutionally held and has never traded publicly. Two figures on the same page were deliberately not used — the '$2,490 NGC Genuine eBay' auction-record line, which is a modern replica rather than the coin, and a dealer's $10M-$20M hypothetical range, which is opinion.

This is not a sale. It is what the market was asking, and no transaction is recorded behind it. Source.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, taken from a named public source and shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08